Decadron given in the deltoid muscle

[RnAngl]

Today I went to the doctor for this nasty URI (viral)--I was sick of coughing my head off.

Anyway, the nurse CMA, or what ever she was gave me deadron in the deltoid muscle. When she came in I had alredy gotten ready to get it in the hip---but she said she could give it to me in the arm. I asked her if she was sure? she kinda of got huffy so i let her give it to me in the arm.

Well, i am a senior nursing student and that just did not sit right with me---so i looked it up in my drug book. It can cause muscle atrophy, abscess if given in the arm.

How do you (as nurses) decide where to give an injection?

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

I have some slight atrophy in the outer lateral wrist I got from it being injected for Dequervain's. I think the decadron's muscle/tissue atrophy would be local if at all.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

There are a lot of variables here: the medication's viscosity (thickness), the solution itself (some drugs, such as Demerol and Vistaril, are VERY hard on tissue), the volume to be given, the amount of muscle tissue, the patient's age and condition, the presence of obesity, whether or not there is scar tissue, and landmarks. (Yes, even after doing literally thousands of IM's, I still scope out the best injection site on each individual pt.)

I very rarely use the deltoid unless I'm giving a flu or pneumonia vaccine, whose volumes are very small (0.5ml). Even if the volume is

There also is the matter of volume; generally you never give more than 2-3ml in one site, because of the risk of tissue damage and pain. Some drugs, such as Rocephin, are so viscous---and thus painful!---that they must be reconstituted with lidocaine, and sometimes we use a technique called the 'Z-track' to prevent leakage of medication from the site and thus reduce tissue irritation.

That's probably more than you wanted to know. Hope I've helped answer your question. :)